Clemson students learn how to share message on alcohol abuse

CLEMSON - About 86 percent of Clemson University students drink alcohol, which is higher than the national average of 84.2 percent for college students.

Clemson officials would like to bring that rate down. To that end, the university is in the middle of a five-year program to tackle alcohol abuse on campus.

On Tuesday, about 200 resident advisers, resident directors and fraternity and sorority members attended a daylong program on how to teach the school's 3,000 freshmen about dealing with alcohol excess.

Salley Ouellette, a health educator at Clemson, helped teach the advisers and Greek members ways to walk a difficult line by not preaching but making sure students understand some ways to prevent abuse problems.

This year is the first time the university has incorporated student housing and Greeks in a training program, which will be presented to students at mandatory 90-minute meetings this month and next. The Greek participants are members of GAMMA, or Greeks Advocating for the Mature Management of Alcohol.

Half of incoming freshmen already drink alcohol, Ouellette said, so the idea is to work with students where they are. Most students already do not drink in a high-risk manner, Ouellette said, and information provided them can help them avoid that.

"We teach them the skills to reduce their risks" from getting drunk, which include sexual assault, injury, arrest and more, she said.

For students who face high-risk situations, as most of them will at parties and gatherings, Ouellette offers ideas to prevent overindulgence. These include alternating alcohol drinks with non-alcoholic drinks, pacing yourself when drinking, monitoring your drink at all times, avoiding drinking games, and using a buddy system if planning to imbibe.

"If you use those … you'll have fewer unwanted consequences," she said.

Leasa Evinger, associate director of residential life at Clemson, said resident advisers will be presenting the information they learned Tuesday at dorm meetings.

"We know students will make their own choice, but we want to give them as much information as possible to make those choices," Evinger said.

Students base decisions on alcohol use on their own knowledge, what their peers say, the environment and laws and policies about alcohol use, Ouellette said. The students trained on Tuesday learned about setting the tone of the presentation "to decrease the resistance of students to the message," she said.

Freshmen also must go online to complete an "electronic checkup," which also provides information about alcohol abuse and choices, Ouellette said.

Tuesday's Alcohol Skills Training Program was part of the "healthy campus" initiative at the university.